Emmet Moloney writes for the 'The Irish Farmers Journal' and is a former sports columnist with 'The Kerryman'.

What happened last weekend in New Zealand has brought a smile to a beleaguered nation’s face. Emmet Moloney dares to dream...

The Gods were smiling on Ireland when this Rugby World Cup was being planned. We always knew as second seeds in the grand scheme of things that we’d be paired with a stronger nation than ourselves. Of those, only Australia offered us crumbs of comfort.

We’ve never beaten the All-Blacks and South Africa also make our blood run cold. But the Aussies? Well, we actually have a good record against them, going so far as to beat them at home in a test series in 1979. That may have been back in the Ollie Campbell days, but history does count for something in this game. We usually punch above our weight playing against them, and so it proved on Saturday morning.

The rest of our group is also ideal for Declan Kidney’s immaculate planning purposes. We had our pipe opener against the States; it wasn’t pretty but we got the job done. Then we had the game we’ve been waiting for since the draw was made – the Aussies – and we took it to them, as we did in 2003. Only this time we got out the other side.

Now, and this is where the fun starts, we have two more games in the group and they are spaced out perfectly for us. Russia this Sunday will be a chance for some of the panel to get a run. Then the following week we have a very tricky tie against the Italians. That game won’t be pretty but must be won.

This is why Declan Kidney is rubbing his hands with glee. We’ll do the necessary against the Russians but will look ugly beating Italy. That will dampen expectations somewhat and have us knuckling down for Wales in the quarter-final.

Kidney knows exactly what the Italians will be thinking and that’s the very same thing we were thinking before the Australian game. The Azurri will not be afraid of us; they will tear into us, because this is the game they have been waiting for two years. We’re in the Australian boat: complete ambush fodder for Italy. This will help to calm us.

Back in the Rugby World Cup of 2003, Ireland only lost to Australia, in Melbourne, by one point: 17-16. It was a heroic performance by us but it was the last game of the group. The natural anti-climax that follows such displays saw us well beaten by France a week later in the quarter-final. This time is different and Kidney knows it. He has been lucky with the format of the matches and he will use that luck.

The country got a small bit carried away in the aftermath of last Saturday morning. Talk of a World Cup final started almost immediately and I noticed The Irish Times had a nice piece on their website about the price of flying over there for the knockout stages if a man or woman decided he should go. Delighted to see the recession gets tossed aside when we have a chance of winning something!

In truth we will now struggle for the next two games. And no harm either. Once we beat Italy, Wales are our likely opponents in the last eight and they won’t be in the least bit afraid of us. They were expecting Australia and they will be thrilled it’s green and not gold. They will fancy their chances and rightly so. So, at the risk of repeating myself, trust in Kidney. By the time that game comes around, hopefully he will have ensured Wales are the favourites!

Putting the bigger picture aside for a minute, we should really bask in the glow of Saturday’s win. For the warriors O’Driscoll and O’Connell it was salvation again. Greatness never really goes away; it only hides. Out it came in Auckland. Everyone stepped up to the mark and the real bonus is that there’s more to come. More from Jamie Heaslip, more from Keith Earls and Tommy Bowe, more from Eoin Reddan/Conor Murray, more from Sexton. And much more from Ronan O’Gara. Isn’t he something else? His frame is the only thing that isn’t built for top-class international rugby; everything else about him is. You just knew he’d leave his mark on the tournament somewhere.

That’s the most gratifying part of this win. O’Connell, O’Callaghan, O’Driscoll, O’Gara along with D’Arcy are the veterans of Irish rugby and the men who will not grace this stage again. Your youngsters like Ferris, Heaslip, Earls, Kearney, Sexton, Murray and Bowe will have at least another World Cup. But not the Os. They’re going to leave this stage in the style they are accustomed to and fair play to them.

So it’s all good. Our pack and front row in particular look good. We’ve found the high tempo game we need at this level to take on the southern hemisphere teams. Now, let’s trust in Deccy again. We’ll be flat against Russia, we’ll be ugly against Italy. Then we will come again with the big match performance. The worse we look going into a quarter-final the better, because we looked horrible going into last Saturday. The rest was history. To catch Emmet's latest column, get 'The Irish Farmers' Journal' every Thursday...